Mickey Rourke

Though he emerged onto the film landscape loaded with talent and promise, actor Mickey Rourke squandered what could have been a long, prominent career, thanks to hubris and his combative nature. Rourk...
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It looks like you'll have to wait another year to see Jessica Alba hit the big screen again as Nancy Callahan. According to Box Office Mojo, the release date for Sin City: A Dame to Kill For has been pushed back from October 3, 2013 to August 22, 2014. Gee, we've already been waiting eight years for this movie. What's one more?
Seeing as production for the film only began earlier this year, it makes sense that they had to delay the release. After all, Sin City was a highly stylized, special effects-filled monster of a blockbuster — and that was back in 2005. Sin City 2 promises to be even more visually stunning, with a stellar cast to match. In addition to Jessica Alba, Sin City: A Dame to Kill For also stars returning cast members Bruce Willis, Rosario Dawson, Jaime King, Powers Boothe, and Mickey Rourke, along with newcomers Eva Green (as the titular dame), Josh Brolin, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Jeremy Piven, Juno Temple, and many others.
So the Sin City sequel has been postponed for 10 months. We can only hope this means that the movie will be out of this world. The pressure is on, Robert Rodriguez. The pressure is on.
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Fans of Robert Rodriguez's crime thriller Sin City will have to wait more than a year to see sequel A Dame To Kill For as its release has been pushed back. The follow-up to the 2005 cult classic stars Eva Green, Mickey Rourke, Jessica Alba and Rosario Dawson, and it was due to hit cinemas in October (13).
However, fans will now have to wait until August, 2014 to see the long-awaited movie, according to Boxofficemojo.com.
Sin City: A Dame to Kill For is now due to hit cinemas on 22 August, 2014.

Newly-freed Wesley Snipes has officially signed up to make his Hollywood return in the third installment of Sylvester Stallone's action epic The Expendables, according to his new co-star Randy Couture. The Blade star has been on house arrest since his release from prison on 2 April (13) after serving a 27-month stint for tax evasion, and he's already secured his first new project to help relaunch his movie career.
Couture has confirmed the casting news to the New York Daily News and he can't wait to start working with martial arts expert Snipes.
Discussing possible plotlines for The Expendables 3, the retired wrestler-turned-actor says, "I would probably rather be on his side. But if not, I think (my character) Toll Road can handle him."
However, Couture admits he has no idea what kind of role Snipes will play, or if rumours of Mel Gibson joining the cast too are true: "They keep that stuff pretty close to their vests."
Stallone recruited action men like Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Couture and Mickey Rourke for his first film, and he has added Snipes, Liam Hemsworth, Jean Claude Van Damme and Chuck Norris to the line-up for the upcoming second sequel, which will begin pre-production this summer (13).
Snipes and Stallone starred opposite each other in 1993 action hit Demolition Man.

Hey buddy, how's it going? I'm thinking of seeing Iron Man 3 this weekend. What do you think?
Well, have you seen Iron Man and Iron Man 2: Let Us Never Speak of It Again?
Actually, no I haven't.
Did you see The Avengers?
Nope.
So, why exactly do you want to see this?
Well my...
Let me guess, "My boyfriend/girlfriend/non-genered significant other really wants me to go, so I'm going to check it out." Cool. OK, I get it. I guess I can fill you in.
So, what do I need to know?
Well, you should know that you should probably see those three movies first or else you are going to be a little bit lost. But Iron Man is a dude named Tony Stark who is a billionaire playboy.
Is that a real job?
It is in the comics. So, Tony Stark is a billionaire playboy and a genius.
Really?
Yes, not only does everyone in the comics have tons of money and super powers, but there are an inordinate number them that are geniuses. So, in the movie, Tony Stark is a billionaire playboy genius who gets kidnapped by a bunch of terrorists and has to make a suit out of iron to bust himself free. The problem is he was injured and has shrapnel in his chest so he has this electromagnet in there to keep it from reaching his heart and killing him. When he gets back to the real world he's so emotionally wrecked that he builds himself a suit of armor to fight bad guys and stuff.
So he doesn't have any super powers?
What do you think being a billionaire playboy genius is? But no, he has no super powers. But his suit has lots of powers. It has "repulsor rays" in the hands and feet that allow Iron Man not only to fly to also to blast people to kingdom come. And the suit is made of metal so he's pretty invulnerable, and it makes him stronger and whatnot. There's also an in-flight robot computer thingy named Jarvis (the name of The Avengers' butler in the comics) who helps him out and tells him things.
How does he pee in it?
That is a good question that I don't know the answer to. But I assume he does not? Maybe there's an elaborate tubing system? I don't know.
Is his origin story very different in the comics?
No, not really, but it happened back in the '60s and he was known as "invincible" and his suit was all ugly and grey and sort of looked like a Campbell's soup can with a head on it.
But is the yellow and red color scheme any better?
God no, but it looks pretty cool in the comics.
So, the first two movies aren't on Netflix streaming so...what happens?
Well, in the first one Stark invents the armor, defeats his father's friend who was trying to steal his company, gets it on with his personal assistant, and then tells the world that he's a super hero. The second one, well, it's best we don't talk about it.
It was bad?
I think bad is an understatement. But Iron Man faced off against Mickey Rourke with bad makeup and a whip. Or was there makeup? I don't know. It's so hard to tell with Mickey. Anyway Nick Fury and the Black Widow were also in the movie a lot, because it was ramping the whole thing up for The Avengers.
So Iron Man is one of The Avengers?
Yes, in both the movies and the comic books, Iron Man is a founding member of The Avengers.
What happened to him in the Avengers movie? Do I really need to know? This already seems like so much.
You don't need to know, but to see IM3 you're going to want to know. When the movie starts he has a bit of PTSD from fighting against space aliens that fell from a warmhole in the sky in the movie.
So, it was a documentary?
Ha, very funny. They reference this incident in New York like a half dozen times in the movie, so it's best to know what's going on.
Isn't Gwyneth Paltrow in this?
Yeah, she plays Pepper Potts, who is Tony Stark's personal assistant. They fall in love in the first movie and in the sequel he makes her the CEO of the company. Now she's moved in. Man, she has a crazy set of abs.
It's all the Pilates. God, I hate her.
Yeah, I do too, but she's not awful in this.
Why is there an Iron Man suit painted like an American flag in the trailer?
That's War Machine who has been dubbed the Iron Patriot in this movie. War Machine is basically just a version of Iron Man with more guns on it that the government uses as a super soldier. It is piloted by Col. James "Rhodey Rhodes, who is a friend of Tony Stark's. He was played by Terrence Howard in the first movie but was replaced by Don Cheadle for the next two.
Why?
Basically he was a jerk.
Is there anyone else I need to know about?
Jon Favreau, who is money and totally knows it, plays Happy Hogan, Tony Stark's best friend and security guard. In the comics Happy was also a villain named The Freak. Even though Favreau is a freak, that doesn't happen in the movie. He also directed the first two movies, but this one was made by Shane Black, who wrote the Lethal Weapon movies, among other things.
Speaking of villains, who are the bad guys in this?
Iron Man has always had really crappy villains. His big nemsis was The Mandarin, who was this Chinese guy with a long beard and 10 different magic rings that had 10 different magic powers. Ben Kingsley plays The Mandarin in the movie, but without the rings or the magic. There's also AIM, which stands for Advanced Idea Mechanics. They're like a group of scientific terrorists.
Oh yeah, that sounds real terrifying!
You should see their ridiculous costumes. Even comic book nerds think they're funny looking.
Thanks, man. I'm glad you filled me in. Now I don't need to watch all those other movies and totally know what's going on.
You're welcome. But you really should watch the first one. It's quite good. And I promise, there's not too much Gwynnie. Oh, and you should stay to the very end of the credits and there's a little surprise scene, like there is at the end of every Marvel movie. But if you haven't seen The Avengers, you're not going to get it anyway.
Follow Brian Moylan on Twitter @BrianJMoylan
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Admit it: sometimes things are just better when they're wet. Slip 'n' slides, thirst-quenching beverages, and yes, even the occasional romantic moment or two. Aside from the lubrication aspect of the wee moisture droplets, there's also a sense of abandon that comes with saying "f**k it, let's do this" when the rain is pouring down around you.
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Think about some of the most epically sexy moments in movies: Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams share The Kiss to End All Kisses in The Notebook under a deluge, Mickey Rourke and Kim Basinger got wet 'n' wild in some back-alley sexytimes during 9 1/2 Weeks, and who could forget the sexy at-last kiss between Holly Golightly and her Breakfast at Tiffany's paramour?
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Such is the case of the films we present before you: a little rain never hurt anybody, and in this instance, we think it actually helped the situation. Think about it: what's more boring than a movie make-out? One without rain, of course! So in honor of the sexy alien times going on in the newest Stephenie Meyer mega-hit The Host, we've compiled a list of our favorite, legitimately sexy moments in water-related history. Who knew there was such variety living in these downpours? If you weren't aware, you are now: sometimes sexy is better with a little drizzle.
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[Photo Credit: Open Road Films]
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The prospect that has us most excited for Iron Man 3? The Mandarin.
Without the Iron Man movies, we wouldn't have had The Incredible Hulk, Thor, Captain America, or The Avengers. Robert Downey, Jr.'s crass and cunning playboy Tony Stark and his arsenal of weaponized super suits paved the way for a new era of superhero movies. But Iron Man and Iron Man 2 were also test grounds, with Marvel Studios figuring out just what they could get away with in one-off comic book movies while building towards continuity in larger worlds. So, while Iron Man was the character who built a foundation for the Marvel Movie Universe, he's also the character in need of the most improving. Specifically, in the villain department.
Iron Man 2 suffers the most from Marvel's growing pains. Iron Man functioned as a swift, playful origin story, but the sequel was tasked with evolving Stark as a character, integrating members of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Samuel L. Jackson and Scarlett Johansson) to broaden the mythology and setup for The Avengers, and create a compelling narrative for the film's two villains, Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell) and Whiplash (Mickey Rourke). The movie whiffed in the third category.
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The faults of Iron Man 2 make the third installment that much more exciting. The upcoming movie appears to have gone back to the basics, building off what worked so well in the first movie (Stark's loose connection to raging terrorism by way of technological innovation) and making it even more personal and dangerous. Ben Kingsley is set to appear as "The Mandarin" in the new movie, and from what we can tell — from past trailers and a few moments in the new TV spot, seen below — he's been tasked with creating a character on par with the best of cinematic supervillainy. And he's making it work.
Will Kingsley's Mandarin live up to the greats of comic book movie evildoers? Does he have that much competition in the first place? Check out our poll for a list of our favorite villains, vote on your pick, then head to the comments to tell us what makes the perfect adversary.
What will it take to create a memorable villain in the Iron Man universe? The answer may be as simple as "Ben Kingsley."
&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://polldaddy.com/poll/6992772/"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Who Is Your Favorite Comic Book Movie Supervillain&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;
Follow Matt Patches on Twitter @misterpatches
[Photo Credit: Walt Disney Pictures]
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Nerds! Okay, so that wasn't the expletive I shouted after I sampled the new Ben &amp; Jerry's flavor dedicated to 30 Rock, "Liz Lemon Greek Frozen Yogurt with a Blueberry Lavender Swirl." But this is a family-friendly site, so we'll stick to nerds. On Thursday night, I was there as Ben &amp; Jerry's co-founder Jerry Greenfield unveiled the flavor at a party in New York City to a crowd of millions. (Hundreds.) What does the ice cream taste like, you ask? Disappointment.
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When you hear that Ben &amp; Jerry's is giving Liz Lemon a flavor, you expect to taste the flavors that make Liz Lemon Liz Lemon — the foods that make her want to go to there. Mini Taco Bell gordita crunches. Adorable little sandwiches. BITE-SIZED CHEESY BLASTERS. After all, they gave Jimmy Fallon — her late-night network cohort — "a vanilla bean base with salty caramel swirls and crunchy fudge-covered potato chip clusters." So very Fallon! Why wouldn't Lemon, one of TV's most beloved foodies, get the same treatment? Right? RIGHT?
Wrong. Instead, she was given a snack more appropriate for contestants on The Biggest Loser. I'm not saying that LLGFYwaBLS is the worst thing I've ever tasted (I do enjoy some health food now and then), I'm just saying that Lemon herself would never eat it. This is a woman who used her fake pregnancy as an excuse to consume four sandwiches, instead of her normal two. A woman who has shotgunned a pizza. A woman whose local hot dog vendor is worried about her health. She'd rather give up late night cheese than switch from regular, full-calorie ice cream to Fro-Yo, a snack for people who actually go to yoga, and don't just talk about it.
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Ben &amp; Jerry's, I still love you — in fact, after I go out tonight, I'll probably consume the entire pint of Half Baked I'm anticipating buying at 3AM. But your 30 Rock flavor is a bigger lie than the one Jenna Maroney perpetuated about Mickey Rourke. Someone call a Rural Juror.
Follow Shaunna on Twitter @HWShaunna
[PHOTO CREDIT: NBC]
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The Casino Royale femme fatale will portray the new film's deadly muse, Ava Lord - who screenwriter and co-director Frank Miller describes as "every man's most glorious dreams come true," adding, "she's also every man's darkest nightmares".
Rodriguez says, "Ava Lord is one of the most deadly and fascinating residents of Sin City. From the start, we knew that the actor would need to be able to embody the multifaceted characteristics of this femme fatale and we found that in Eva Green. We are ecstatic that Eva is joining us."
She joins a cast that includes returning stars Mickey Rourke, Jessica Alba, Bruce Willis, Rosario Dawson and Jaime King, and fellow newcomers Josh Brolin, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ray Liotta, Dennis Haysbert and Christopher Meloni.
Production is underway at Rodriguez's Troublemaker Studios in Austin, Texas.

The Sin City star is the latest celebrity to fall victim to the morbid trend of online hoaxes which claim that a star has died in a snowboarding accident in Switzerland.
After the rumours hit the web, Rourke's agent David Unger had to tell a string of panicked callers that the actor was in fact very much alive.
He tells New York gossip column Page Six that the star is "very touched by the outpouring of concern, and is alive and well in Beverly Hills".
Unger adds, "I have been getting condolence calls from all over the world. But I can confirm Mickey is very alive."
Jim Carrey, Jeff Goldblum, Christian Slater and Sylvester Stallone have all been targets of sick hoaxes in recent years.

Even with a handful of highly regarded movies under his belt, Walter Hill admits that returning to the director's seat for Bullet to the Head was no easy task. Hill has a gruff, no B.S. attitude when he discusses his career and Bullet, a film that finally unites him with Sylvester Stallone after years of failed attempts. There's also excitement in his voice — after all, it's been ten years since the director of The Warriors and 48 Hrs has been behind the camera for a feature film. Anyone with their own creative endeavors can imagine that that's a painfully long time.
Hollywood.com spoke to Hill on the set of Bullet to the Head about everything past, present, and future. As a legend of the industry, Hill is a wealth of knowledge — and thankfully, he's not afraid to speak his mind:
You shot Hard Times here, you shot Southern Comfort out on the bayou. What's it like being back?
Walter Hill: And Johnny Handsome with Mickey Rourke! It's nice to be able to come back.
How has it changed?
Walter Hill: They've gone through terrible things and rebuilding. It's always been this interesting place, very different than any other American city. My social commentary on the changes within the city are best left to others. I'm happy to feel that the city is doing so well and it has made, and continues to make, a terrific comeback from the tragedy that happened.
How much does the character of the city bleed into the movie?
Hill: You try to use it. These things are narrative, they're character, they're thematic, but they're also atmosphere. You can use that to your advantage when you get a chance. One of the things I like about New Orleans is it feels like you're in a Western with the architecture. All the balconies, the old buildings, it feels like you're in the 1880s. Some of it spills into the movie.
You incorporate a lot of music into your movies. Will you be doing that with this one?
Walter Hill: We're trying. I've got some Cajun music, some old time street bands, that kind of business.
Talk about directing Sly, who's directed himself so much. This is one of the first times in a while where he's had a director that has not been himself, so can you talk about working with him?
Hill: I'd kinda surrendered. I've been trying to get him to do a movie for about 30 years and never could make it work out. He and I bumped into each other over the years, we had several meetings trying to work things out. And he and I both have the same lawyer so would see each other at various social events. He's directed about 10 movies, but anybody who's been a great star as long as he has is gonna be very knowledgEable about the picture business. But I only know one way to direct. He's ... a writer, producer, director, but setting all that aside he's two things: he's a very good actor and he's a star. Both those are very considerable. I think everybody understands about him being a star, but I don't think people totally appreciate how good an actor he is. Actors often get judged by material as well as their abilities, and I think he's giving a very good performance in this film. This one's a little more character-driven than some of his other dramas, but that's for you to judge, really.
What about the material excites you and made you step up and tackle it?
Hill: I think the biggest thing that drew me in was probably unemployment. I had just had a movie fall apart about six weeks before that I'd been trying to do for a year. It was sent to me. It wasn't the only thing that was sent to me, but it was the kind of story I thought I knew something about and thought maybe I could make a contribution to. Don't do things you can't do something with. I see wonderful movies where I'd be the first to say I couldn't have done it. I see other movies where I think, "They should have sent that one to me!"
Your actors have mentioned that you have a directing expression: "too much prosciutto." Was does that mean exactly?
Hill: Sometimes when people have anxiety in their desire to please you and do good, they have a tendency to overdo it. That's one of our jobs: to pull it back into the range that you think is appropriate to the film. [Sarah Shahi] likes to act her heart out. She's a strong actress, she pairs very well, she brings a lot to it. Sometimes the very best acting is just people talking to each other. It's the old joke about don't get caught acting; if you get caught acting you're not acting very well.
Bullet to the Head is obviously rated R based on the violence and the language. How are you taking advantage of the R rating in this film? Some of Sly’s recent films have been really gory, some of them have been less so.
Hill: I don’t know, I think the answer to that really lies with the people that make the ratings. It’s a very subjective process. I got threatened with an X on a movie that I didn’t think was as tough as some of the other films I’ve done, this was years ago. I just think the process is very subjective. I don’t think there’s any question this is an R movie, and I don’t think there’s anything in it to a degree that’s going to threaten it beyond an R.
You mentioned that this movie clicked for you because it felt like a movie that you could make. Action movies have evolved over time. How is your approach different or in line with today's blockbusters?
Hill: This is not a big spectacle movie. I think action movies on the whole have moved more and more into large spectacle, even leaving out superhero movies that seem to me to be more a fantastic science fiction than they are action movies. Action movies to me are dramas with recognizable human beings that are in extraordinary situations. Now there’s a lot of elasticism within that definition. They are certainly not very realistic, and they never were — the Steve McQueen movies, or Burt Lancaster, Lee Marvin, whatever you want from the old days. This movie is not a big spectacle movie, and although these kinds of films don’t usually get reviewed this way, or usually approached this way, it’s largely a movie that is presented through the characters. The drama is character driven.
This is what I meant by maybe it’s my kind of thing. There’s a tricky tone, where you try to get some humor into a movie that’s also a tough tale of murder and revenge. You have to ice skate rather carefully between the humor and the action tension part of the drama.
You can’t have “too much prosciutto.”
Hill: No, that’s a different issue, that’s OTT. Prosciutto is over the top. That’s a different issue. It’s trying to find the tone. In that sense, I don’t know if it qualifies as a retro movie, but I think it harkens back. I think it’s very much a modern film.
Does it have a similar feeling to 48 Hrs, that kind of thing?
Hill: Well, it’s more like that than it is Brewster’s Millions.
Do you consider yourself to be a throwback director?
Hill: I consider myself to still be here. I’m still doing my best. I don’t know, I read in the paper that I’m an action director. They always say that, “Action director Walter Hill”, if they bother writing about me at all. I think that’s fine. I’m happy to do the work. The race is already run by now, and I’m lucky enough that I’m here, I’m working, and I’m having a pretty good time doing it.
What are the one or two films off your resume that people always want to talk to you about and that you enjoy talking about?
Hill: Conversations about films are always funny. I would say a majority of people want to talk about what were the more obvious successes, the big box office films. Other people, wanting to be more sensitive to you, want to talk about the ones that maybe didn’t make a lot of money, but they think you might have a special feeling about. And then other people sometimes want to help you by suggesting that you should have done this or that in the movie. That that would have helped you a great deal in whatever capacity. So I just kind of roll with the punches, I guess. I’m always happy to talk to somebody; it’s flattering that people remember your movies. Especially some movie that you did, for Christ’s sake, almost 35 years ago, or what’s especially pleasant is if you’re talking about some movie that you did 35 years ago and they’re 20 years old. That means that they had to find the movie somehow.
There are always remakes being done in Hollywood. There has been talk about remaking Brewster’s Millions, and you have some classic films on your resume. Warriors is always on the verge of a remake.
Hill: They announce it every six months.
Exactly. What are your thoughts on the remake thing?
Hill: My thoughts are very simple: good luck. I had mine and if they want to remake something that usually means you did something right when you did it. I don’t get too excited. I probably seem slightly affected in my answer, but I really don’t. When people say like, “They’re taking this from you,” or something. First of all, I don’t think it’s ever ours, it’s out there. What’s the old Oscar Wilde… "The sincerest form of flattery is imitation." I mean, the big thing is, don’t look back. You’re a director and you’re doing this one, and hopefully you’re going to do another one. What happened a long time ago, or what somebody is trying to make out of it, that’s fine. But that shouldn’t be the consuming thing in your own life.
[Photo Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures (2)]
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Title

Provoked controversy when he disclosed that he had donated part of his fee for playing St Francis of Assisi in "Francesco" to the IRA

Made professional boxing debut (billed as Marielito), scoring a unanimous decision over Steve Powell (May 23)

Appeared in the Sean Penn directed "The Pledge"

Appeared virtually unrecognizable as a transvestite prison inmate in the Steve Buscemi directed "Animal Factory"

Joined an ensemble cast for "The Informers"; based on a collection of short stories by Bret Easton Ellis

Co-starred with Sylvester Stallone in "The Expendables," an 80s-style action adventure about a group of mercenaries who attempt to overthrow a South American dictator; film featured a Who's Who of action stars including Bruce Willis, Jet Li, and Arnold Sc

First collaboration with director Robert Rodriguez, "Once Upon a Time in Mexico"

Played title role of "Bullet" opposite the late Tupac Shakur; also received a writing credit as 'Sir' Eddie Cook

Re-teamed with Cimino for "Year of the Dragon" (scripted by Oliver Stone)

Summary

Though he emerged onto the film landscape loaded with talent and promise, actor Mickey Rourke squandered what could have been a long, prominent career, thanks to hubris and his combative nature. Rourke first made his presence known with a scene-stealing turn as an arsonist in the erotic noir "Body Heat" (1981) before spending the next few years playing roles that would be looked back upon as the genesis of his greatness. His performances in "Diner" (1982) and "Rumble Fish" (1983) were clear signs that the world was witnessing the emergence of another James Dean or Robert De Niro. But by the time he starred opposite the latter in "Angel Heart" (1987), Rourke was well on his way to career obscurity and had no one to blame but himself. Even as a struggling actor, Rourke ran afoul of many co-stars and directors, while not taking seriously the business side of making good in Hollywood, leading to often disastrous parts in films like "Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man" (1991) and "Double Team" (1997). But after coming to his senses - particularly when he failed to rekindle his boxing career - Rourke reemerged in several small but prominent turns, culminating in a full-fledged career comeback with his acclaimed performances in "Sin City" (2005) and "The Wrestler" (2008). Thanks to his resurgence, Rourke was able to secure roles in blockbusters like "Iron Man 2" (2010) and "The Expendables" (2010), which helped rekindle his long-diminished promise.

Name

Role

Comments

Gene Addis

Step-Father

Married Rourke's mother c. 1963; was a strict disciplinarian; Rourke's mother later divorced him

Acted together in "Wild Orchid" (1990) and "Exit in Red" (1996); Married June 26, 1992; Rourke arrested 1994 for spousal abuse, but charges were dropped after couple reconciled; Divorced December 1998

Philip Rourke

Father

Divorced from Rourke's mother

Ann Rourke

Mother

Divorced from Rourke's father; remarried; divorced second husband

Joey Rourke

Brother

Younger

Patty Rourke

Sister

Older

Education

Name

Miami Beach Senior High School

Lee Strasburg Academy Actor's Studio

Notes

"I want to work with interesting material that has integrity. It doesn't have to have a big f***ing message, so long as you can take chances. I don't want to just make action movies with guns blazing." – Rourke to Empire magazine, July 2005

"One of the wildest things I've experienced is how many closeted Mickey Rourke fans there are. So many had perceived him as a joke, a talent squandered. But as soon as they hear he is going back to work again, all the memories of those great performances he did come rushing back. When a lot of people came of age, he was the man. They all wanted to be Mickey." – "The Wrestler" director Darren Aronofsky, from USA Today, Dec. 16, 2008

"My stepfather used to crack my head just because he felt like it. He was big, very big, and mean. And he was physically abusive to my mother. I hated the f***er for hurting her, for making her afraid. For years, I wanted nothing more than to take him down. In our neighborhood, there was some community services center set up to give kids a place to go and to keep us out of trouble. That’s where I first found a speed [punching] bag. To me, it represented a ticket to manhood. I couldn’t beat my stepfather, so I guess I started taking it out on everyone else over time. When I was an adult, I would fight everywhere, anywhere, for anything. Look at me sideways and you’re gone. I didn’t care about the consequences. I was drinking and taking drugs. But more than that, I was angry and crazy and ashamed of how I’d been treated. I’d been kicked around a lot, so I figured the way to fix this was to lash out." – Rourke on his harrowing childhood; excerpt taken from the paperback edition of PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk's book, One Can Make a Difference: How Simple Actions Can Change the World., 2008

Mr. Rourke's birthyear was variously given as 1950, 1952, 1953 and 1956.

"He was hugely talented, but he was surrounded by so many creeps. I often think if he had died after making 'Angel Heart' (1987), he would have been a legend on the scale of James Dean. Maybe he still will be." – "Nine 1/2 Weeks" director Adrian Lyne to People magazine, Oct. 10, 1994